During the 1990′s, Bone Thugs N Harmony were considered to be not only one of the best hip hop groups of that era, but in some circles maybe the best group of all time.  Over hypnotic and at times eerie beats, Bone would deliver tales of murder, depravity, and redemption in the forms of [cont.]

    Shady Records has been pretty quiet as of late. With Eminem pretty much out of the spotlight for the time being, and the loss of Proof, it seemed that Shady had been in much of a rehabilitation mode for the past year or so (with the exception of The Re-Up mixtape). It seems the [cont.]

  A brief history lesson for the uninformed. Linkin Park is an Agoura Hills, CA based rock outfit, emerging in the height of popularity of other “rock-rap” acts like Korn and Limp Bizkit, but have arguably seen more success and longevity than their peers in the genre. Perhaps this credit is owed to frontman Mike [cont.]

   In a phone conversation at the end of DJ Jazzy Jeff’s The Return Of The Magnificent, Jeff calls his good ol’ buddy The Fresh Prince (after jumping through numerous hoops and guard dogs to finally get his former partner - now $20 million per film man – on the horn) and asks, “Let me ask [cont.]

    Who is Marco Polo? The T Dot native has been creeping in the shadows of production for quite some time.  From lacing Masta Ace’s Long Hot Summer to Boot Camp Click’s The Last Stand, Polo’s production has been appreciated, but without a name or a face to attach with it. Now comes Marco Polo’s [cont.]

     “Irony is dead / It’s so motherfucking dead / I was there by it’s death bed / and the last words that he said / were whiiiiiite boooooy,” reads a lyric on Sage Francis’ new LP, Human The Death Dance. The irony that Sage speaks of is indeed dead, that being the fact that [cont.]

    Singer/Songwriter Ne-Yo doesn’t need to sing. The Las Vegas based artist had made his money as a premier songwriter some time ago, but there always seems to be that nagging bug that wonders “What if that was me instead of (place your favorite singer Ne-Yo has written for here)??” His chance came when he [cont.]

    Throughout Gnarls Barkley’s video for “Smiley Faces”, it shows both Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo looming in the background throughout several defining moments in music history. Of course, all of these appearances were added using C.G.I. (a la Forest Gump), but in the real world, there is a group of three brothers that have actually [cont.]

    As far as white boys go, there’s only a few out there that get the elusive “ghetto pass”. Sure, you’ve got Eminem and Justin Timberlake - two undeniable talents, and just like them, you’ve got to be good - or have some friends in the rock department, to get signed to a major label while being [cont.]

   Quannum is the home of what can be considered unconventional Hip-Hop. With acts like Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, and Honeycut amongst others, Quannum has carved its own niche in Hip-Hop, and music in general. Lifesavas are a collective consisting of Jumbo the Garbageman, DJ Shines and Vursatyl and made their presence felt previously on their debut Spirit [cont.]

Mixtape; No Rating Given.      Royce has had a string of bad luck throughout the course of his career. He’s rolled in all of the right circles, first being introduced by Eminem, who later landed him a ghostwriting gig for Dr. Dre’s 2001 LP. When word got out that he was advocating the Doc’s lyric [cont.]

   Chris Lowe has been in the game for 15 years and is praised for his production during the late 80′s and early 90′s. His work with Stezo and EPMD gave him the moniker, the “break beat king.”  Stepping into the forefront, he dropped Black Life in 2004 which featured everyone from Carl Thomas to [cont.]

    Del, Souls of Mischief and the rest of the Hieroglyphics family certainly aren’t on the radar of the hip-hop community the way they were back in the mid-90′s. That doesn’t mean they quit the game, they simply regrouped and put out music on their own Hieroglyphics Imperium label once the major label love ran [cont.]

    As the story goes, Brother Ali was an aspiring emcee, kicking rocks around the streets of Minneapolis, MN, when a friend gave him a dub of Gang Starr’s Moment Of Truth, with assorted Rhymesayers flavors on the b-side. Eventually letting those tracks blast in his Walkman headphones, he found that he was enjoying hip-hop [cont.]

    The Windy City has become the land of many emcees. From the Common’s and Kanye’s, to the Twista’s and Do or Die’s, all the way down to the Vakill’s and Molemen, Chi-town has constantly made their presence felt through every facet of Hip Hop. Capital D (one half of All Natural) is one of [cont.]

    Most of the production on Qwel and Meaty Ogre’s latest, Freezer Burner. is incredible. Meaty Ogre channels T-Ray, Troubleneck, and Diamond, sometimes all at once (not possible? See “I Forgive Em”, where the drums are covered in decades of dust like T-Ray’s, the guitar loop twangs eerie like Diamond, and the synergy of whole thing is [cont.]

    Remember when Tha Dogg Pound went stomped through NYC and kicked over buildings with Snoop on “New York New York”? Or how about Daz and Kurupt’s memorable verses on The Chronic and Doggystyle? Those were the days right? Since Death Row is no more, it has been difficult for Daz and Kurupt to reclaim [cont.]

    It has been a long time since we’ve heard from the Funk Doctor…. 6 years to be exact.  Between alleged label drama, making movie and television appearances and handling the responsibilities of being an adult, Redman has simply been away from the studio.  With his highly anticipated 6th solo album, Red Gone Wild: Thee [cont.]

   When J Rawls linked up with Declaime in Las Vegas, it almost became apparent that the two should work on a project together. Coupling Dudley’s spaced out rhymes with Rawls’ underappreciated, soulful production, could turn out to be the equivalent of a Vegas lounge show. So to those two, who spent a week together [cont.]

    After helping reinvent the careers of both Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado last year (both of whom appear here on “Give It To Me”), Timbaland has become the new “go-to guy” for pop production, graduating from his long resume of hip-hop and R&B hits, like Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin” or Aaliyah’s “Are You that Somebody”, [cont.]